Mophead and refill assembly



May ll, 1954 c. A. CHANNELL. 2,677,837 MOPHEAD AND REFILL ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 2, 1950 Izqi l-z/E' WILD? Charles Art/mr Chamis?? Patented May 11, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,677,837 MOPHEAD AND REFILL ASSEMBLY Charles Arthur Channell, Wilmette, Ill. Application August 2, 1950, Serial No. 177,233 4 Claims. (Cl. 15-119) This invention relates to improvements in a mop and renll assembly, and more particularly to a mop of the character embodying a permanent head and a replaceable cleaning element, commonly referred to as a refill, the mop being highly desirable for household purposes as a scrubbing, cleaning, or polishing mop either in a wet or substantially dry condition, although the invention will obviously have other uses and purposes as will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

The instant invention is an improvement upon the invention disclosed, described, and claimed in my copending application entitled Mop and Rell Construction, filed May 10, 1950, Serial No. 161,041.

Since the advent of mops embodying refills or replaceable cleaning elements, and especially mops of the self-wringing type wherein the rell element may be compressed by manipulating a handle and the stick socket in opposite directions to squeeze the rell between pivotal portions of the head, some difiieulty has been experienced in providing positive and yet very simple connections between the refill and mop head. In most instances, the refill could not be removed from or attached to the mop head without the manipulation of various securing elements and in many cases without the use of some tool for the purpose. This was not only difficult but aggravating, especially to housewives.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an important object of the instant invention to provide a mop head and refill assembly wherein a simple relative movement between the head and refill serves to iirmly unite the parts, and such junction may be secured indennitely by finger manipulation of a simple element.

Another object of the instant provision of a mop head and rell assembly, wherein both the head and reii11 embody a plate, one of the plates having a slot or slots therein while the other has a corresponding number of tongues projecting therefrom for passage through the slots and latching engagement with Very simple relative slidthe head and refill.

It is also a feature of this invention t-o provide a mop head and refill assembly, wherein the mop head is provided with a number of slots, and the rell has an equal number of tongues projecting upwardly and laterally therefrom for latching engagement over the head through the slots, and the head is further equipped with a simple form of set screw to lock the parts in engaged position against accidental release.

invention is the alone, with a Still another object of the invention resides in the provision of a mop head and rell assembly, wherein the rell and head may be latched together upon a very simple and short relative movement therebetween, and no tools of any kind whatever are necessary either to connect the reiill to the head or remove it therefrom.

It is also a feature of this invention to provide a mop head and refill assembly wherein the head and relill may be readily and easily latched together, the latching element or elements being provided as an integral part of the rell.

Still a further feature of the invention resides in the provision of a mop head and rell assembly, wherein either the head or the rell is provided with one or more slots having a formation at the edge of each slot to facilitate latching engagement through the slot by means of an equal number of latches carried by the other member.

While some of the more salient features, characteristics and advantages of the instant invention have been above pointed out, others will become apparent from the following disclosures, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure l is a fragmentary top plan View of a mop head and refill assembly embodying principles of the instant invention, showing the refill connected to the mop head in operative position;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the structure of Fig. l taken substantially as indicated by the line lI-II of Fig. l, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a top plan lnew of the refill element part broken away to illustrate the structure therebeneat-h; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal section taken substantially as indicated by the line IV-IV of Fig. 1.

As shown on the drawings:

In the illustrated embodiment of the instant invention there is shown a mop head including a pair of `iront and rear plates i and 2 hinged together along confronting edges with the aid of a hinge pin 3. A socket Li plate l, a squeeequivalent material, by means of a suitable angle strip 9 riveted or equivalently secured to the margin of the head plate. As seen clearly in Fig. 1, this squeegee projects forwardly of the entire mop structure, and laterally beyond each end of the entire mop structure. The squeegee is of aid in washing windows or equivalent maneuvers, and further prevents any portion of the mop from contacting baseboards, furniture, and the like. A similar squeegee construction is provided on the rear edge 2, and while this rear squeegee may not function as such, it nevertheless serves the purpose of a resilient bumper preventing contact of metal parts with objects that might be injured during the use of the mop.

Again, with reference to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the front plate of the mop head is provided with a plurality of slots II) therein, while the rear plate is provided with a plurality of similar slots Il. In the illustrated instance, three Vsuch slots are shown on the front plate, while two are illustrated adjacent the ends of the rear plate, since the socket t is mounted centrally of the rear plate. Also, threadedly engaged through the rear plate adjacent one end thereof is a hand operable set screw I?. which may be readily and easily extended or retracted with the inger and thumb of an operator, there being no tools required to operate this set screw.

In the illustrated instance, the refill element comprises a sponge-like body I3 which may satisfactorily be a block oi cellulose sponge. Over the top of the body I3 is a cover Iii, preferably of iabric of the type of a light canvas or the equivalent, and which is cemented to the block. A second cover i5 of like character is cemented to the first cover wherever it is possible f or the covers to come in contact with each other. Between the two covers Ill and I5 a pair of spaced, preferably metallic, strips It and I1 are glued or otherwise held in place by the covers. It will be noted that these strips are disposed to underlie the head plates I and 2, respectively, but are shorter than the head plates as well as being shorter than the reiill body I3, so there is no possibility of either of these strips ever contacting baseboards or furniture.

Preferably struck bodily from the plates or strips are a plurality of latching tongues. The front plate It has three of these tongues I8 corresponding to the three slots Ii! in the front, head plate I; while the rear strip or plate I1 has two latching tongues I9, corresponding to the slots I I in the rear head plate 2. As is evident from the disclosure in Fig. 4, the tongues I8 and I9 extend upwardly through the top cover element I5 and are then extended laterally in spaced relationship to the cover lli.

With this construction, it is an extremely simple expedient to place the reiill against the underside of the mop head, with the tongues protruding thro-ugh the respective slots, and then upon a slight relative movement between the head and refill bring the tongues in their latching engagement over the head plates I and 2 as clearly seen in Fig. l. This latching engagement may then be secured by the simple expedient of tightening the set screw I2 until the shank of this screw extends downwardly past the end of the adjacent strip or plate Il of the reiill as seen clearly in lFig. 4, so that an inadvertent unlatching movement between the rell and mop head cannot happen. When it is desired to remove the refill, it is also a simple expedient to release the set screw, and slide the parts out of latching engagement with each other.

With reference again to Fig. 4, it will be noted that the head plates I and 2 are preferably struck downwardly as indicated at 20 on the latching side of each slot, to better facilitate quick and positive engagement between the refill and head.

When it is desired to wring out the refill, it is a simple expedient to free the handle 6 from the detent 1 and move the handle away from the socket 4 thereby folding the body of the refill between the head plates I and 2 and compressing out the moisture contained in the refill, all. as more fully explained in my aforesaid copending application.

From the foregoing it is apparent that I have provided a mop head and reiill assembly wherein the rell is simply and expeditiously joined to or removed from the mop head without the aid of any tools and in a manner readily performed by any housewife. It will also be noted that the entire construction is extremely durable, light in weight, and economical to manufacture.

It will be understood that modications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a mop, a head including front and rear plates hingedly connected along adjacent edges thereof, each of said plates having slots therein, a refill element including s, sponge body, a pair of spaced metallic strips on said body to underlie said plates, said strips being shorter than said plates, a cover over said strips and secured to said body around said strips, holding the strips to said body, tongues struck from said strips and extending upwardly through said cover and laterally thereabove through said slots and latching over said plates at the ends of the slots, and a releasable set screw in said head extending past the end edge of one of said strips to prevent a relative unlatching movement between said element and the head.

2. In a mop, a head including a pair of hingedly connected plates each having a slet therein, a. sponge element removably connected to said head, means for relatively pivoting said plates to compress said sponge element therebetween, a pair of spaced rigid strips carried by said sponge element to underlie said plates, a cover secured to said sponge element and overlying said strips, a bent tongue projecting from each strip through said cover and entering the respective slot and interlocking with the respective plate, and a releasable unitary locking element carried by one of said plates engaging a strip and holding said head and sponge element against an unintentional relative disengaging movement.

3. In a mop, a head including front and rear plates hingedly connected along adjacent edges, each of said plates having a plurality of spaced slots therein, a reiill sponge, a pair of spaced metallic strips on top of said sponge and carried thereby and underlying said plates, a cover secured to said sponge over said strips, and latch elements carried by said strips and extending through said cover and said slots into latching engagement with said plates at the ends of said slots, said sponge being removable from said head upon relative movement therebetween to disengage said latch elements.

4. In a mop, a head including front and rear plates hingedly connected along adjacent edges, each of said plates having a plurality of spaced slots therein, a refill sponge, a pair of spaced metallic strips on top of said sponge and carried thereby and underlying said plates, a cover secured to said sponge over said strips, spaced tongues struck from each of said strips extending upwardly and laterally all in the same direction through said cover and said slots and latching over said plates at the ends of said slots, and releasable holding means in one of said plates engaging an end of one of said strips to prevent relative movement between the sponge and head to disengage said tongues.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number 15 175,296 176,157 466,474

6 Name Date Karas Mar. 30, 1920 Hamilton May 4, 1920 Cosby May 4, 1926 Jelenfy June 16, 1936 Trindl et al Aug. 1, 1944 Vaughn Sept. 19, 1944 Berndsen Oct. 25, 1949 Greenleaf et al July 18, 1950 Bogan Oct. 30, 1951 Greenleaf et al Apr. 29, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Switzerland May 1, 1935 Switzerland June 17, 1935 Canada July 11, 1950 

